LETTER: Clinton didn't fix deficit; GOP-led House did the job

I want to add to one of the points made in a recent letter by David Crowe, who rebutted another letter writer's assertions about a professor at Adelphi University who claimed that President Bill Clinton fixed the deficit. That professor was dead wrong.

According to the Constitution, Article I, Section 2, paragraph 1, "All bills for raising revenues originate in the House of Representatives." Thus, presidents don't do the spending, Congress does. To give a better view of this, consider the following: A history of deficits and surpluses can be found at whitehouse.gov. Here is what it shows: From 1970 until 1994 we were in a deficit situation. During those 25 years the Democrats controlled the House of Representative, and for 19 of those years they controlled the Senate as well.

During 1994, when Clinton was president, we were still in a deficit. In 1995 the Republicans took over the House and the deficit began to decline rapidly. During the next seven years the Republicans controlled spending, and we went from a $246 billion deficit, to a $164 billion surplus in 2001. Then 911 happened and we went back into a deficit. Therefore, Clinton did not fix the deficit, the Republican Congress did.

Then President Obama took office, and in 2009, the Democrats had control of both houses, and the deficit skyrocketed until 2011. Then the Republicans took back the House and the deficit began to decline once again.

What I have written is not "Opinion," but verifiable fact, and the records are available to anyone who goes to the site I provided. I no longer simply accept what a politician says as truth. I prefer to do a little research and to try to find the truth myself, and to help others. At this point I am convinced that what politicians fear more than anything else is the possibility that average people will begin to question what they are being told.

David R. Nemirow

Clarksville 37042

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LETTER: Clinton didn't fix deficit; GOP-led House did the job

I want to add to one of the points made in a recent letter by David Crowe, who rebutted another letter writer's assertions about a professor at Adelphi University who claimed that President Bill